


Infighting

by JewishDavidJacobs



Series: Across Enemy Lines [3]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Era, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Labor Unions, M/M, Romance, Suffrage Movement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JewishDavidJacobs/pseuds/JewishDavidJacobs
Summary: David Jacobs’ life is finally on the upswing. He has a job he loves, he’s getting some of his pieces published in the paper, and he’s spending his free time fighting for the rights of others. He’s happy, but he’s about to learn a lesson: sometimes the biggest danger to a cause isn’t the opposition, it’s infighting.
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Across Enemy Lines [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784512
Comments: 49
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter One

David Jacobs almost hit himself in the face entering the World building because, in his rush to get inside, he had forgotten that the doorman was going to open the door and he practically collided with it. “Sorry, Marcus!” he tossed back as he sped through. 

“This happens every morning; I’m used to it. Have a good day, David.”

“You too! Good morning, Martha,” he greeted, barely managing not to topple into the woman. 

“Good morning, David. How was your Sunday?”

“Same as always. How was yours?”

“It was fine but I have to tell you what I heard about Paul and Dana.”

“As in Paul and Dana  _ together?” _

She nodded. “Stop by when you get a chance.”

“I will.” He navigated through the crowd to the front desk and smiled at the secretary. “Good morning, Vivian.” The woman just glared at him as per usual. “Is there anything for me to bring up?”

“There  _ was  _ but I sent it to the mailroom. I’ve told you before, if you’re not here to get it first thing, I’m not responsible for it.” 

David looked at the giant clock hanging on the wall. “But it’s only two minutes after!”

“Get here at eight o’clock and you wouldn’t have this problem.”

“But-”

“I do actually have things to do besides talk to you. Go.”

David huffed but relented and moved towards the elevators, calling the one he always took. 

“David!” someone yelled. “David!” It took him a second to pick the person out of the crowd but he turned away when he did, hoping they would think he hadn't heard. “David! I’ve been calling you, didn’t you hear me?”

“I didn’t,” he lied. “Sorry, Archie.”

“Did you speak to Mr. Pulitzer about my report?” The elevator doors opened and David stepped in. “It’s been almost a week since I showed you.”

“Good morning, Walter. Sorry, Archie, he had a very busy day yesterday and I didn’t have time.”

Walter smirked knowingly and the doors slowly started to close.

“He’s the publisher! Every day is a very busy day!” 

“Exactly!” The doors shut completely and Walter laughed. 

“You’re gonna have to find a way to just tell him ‘no’ eventually.”

“I’ve tried and nothing works. Besides, if he thinks I’ll actually talk to Mr. Pulitzer about it eventually, maybe he won’t give me half finished paperwork for the third week in a row.”

“Good thinking. Are you still all right for Sunday, kid?” 

“Of course.” The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. “See you later, Walter.”

“Bye.” 

“Good morning, David,” Hannah said.

He sighed and reached over his desk to set his bag down on the chair. “One of these days I’m going to beat you.”

“No, you aren’t. How was your Sunday?”

“Busy, but I got everything done. How was yours?”

“Ugh, terrible. My mother-in-law dragged me to church.”

“I thought you liked going to church.”

“I like it just fine but I don’t like it with my mother-in-law,” she complained.

David laughed.

“He’s in a mood today.”

“Of course he is. Did you read the  _ Herald  _ this morning?” 

“Not yet.”

David pulled it out of his bag for her and dropped it on her desk. He opened it to the correct page and pointed.

“Oh. Well, today isn’t going to be fun then.”

“Nope. Wish me luck.” David knocked on the door. 

“I’m not wasting a wish on something that unrealistic.”

He rolled his eyes and waited for permission to enter. “Good morning, Mr. Pulitzer.”

“Have you seen this?” he asked without preamble, holding up a newspaper. 

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s ridiculous. Did these people have zero intelligence to begin with or have they just misplaced it?”

David poured his boss a cup of coffee from where it rested on the sideboard and listened to him complain.

“And your friends are out there shouting about it this morning. I heard it myself. Although I suppose you wouldn’t mind.”

David handed him the cup and said, “Sir, you’ve known about this for weeks and you’ve also known that the  _ Herald _ ’s known about it for at least one. Are you really that surprised?” 

“I’m not surprised, I’m appalled. All right,” he said, putting the paper aside, “what do you have for me?” 

“Mr. Daniels said he wouldn’t consider it in a million years, there’s-”

“He said that?”

“Well, I paraphrased. If I said exactly what he said I think my mother would sense it from the Lower East Side and come wash my mouth out.”

“What else?”

“The Tribune said the Dow Jones went up five points but it was seven and they’re going to have to issue a correction.”

“But we got it right, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Anything else?”

“If you happen to see Archie Green from finance, you think it’s an interesting proposal but it can’t be considered at present.”

Pulitzer raised an eyebrow. “What—”

“It’s a waste of time and even if it wasn’t, it’s filled with unsubstantiated data.”

“All right. You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Hannah was typing away in the outer office but she stopped when David came out. “How was he?”

“Not that bad.”

“‘Not that bad’? You’re telling me he isn’t in there yelling about it?”

“He was, but I don’t think he thinks it’s fun to rant to me about it anymore because he knows I’m not exactly the biggest supporter.”

“You don’t care about Teddy Roosevelt running?” she asked.

“I don’t agree with him on almost anything but I can’t bring myself to care about it when we’re almost a year out. And you know what John Adams said about the vice presidency?” 

“What?”

“‘My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived,’” David quoted. “Unless the president dies it doesn’t matter. Being the President of the Senate means basically nothing in a practical sense. We don’t even know that it’s true yet.”

“Who else are they gonna pick?” 

“I don’t know. Either way, I can’t vote for over three years.”

“Well, I can’t vote at all,” Hannah said sternly and he immediately felt a twinge of guilt. 

“Sorry.”

She deflated and smiled. “That’s all right.”

Hannah was very understanding when it came to his slip-ups. He couldn’t help that he had been raised in a society that taught him misogyny. His parents tried their best, but after years around mostly men at his old school, he occasionally found himself thinking or saying something insensitive. Sarah would punch him in the shoulder and Katherine would smack the back of his head. 

“Actually—” he reached into his bag “—my sister wanted me to give you this flyer. Here. Carrie Chapman Catt is speaking in Central Park in two weeks. A bunch of people are speaking and it’s a picnic thing. You’re welcome to join our family.”

“Thank you.”

“And it’s after church so your mother-in-law can’t complain,” he reasoned.

“Trust me, she’ll find a way.”

Outside the lodging house, Davey spotted several of the younger boys playing marbles. They smiled excitedly when they saw him.

“Mr. Jacobs!”

Eddy ran inside and he heard him scream, “Mr. Jacobs is here!”

“Hi boys. How was selling today?” he asked the other two.

“Good! Thanks for the headline!”

Davey laughed. “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t pick them?”

“Race says-”

“Never listen to Race.” He thought for a second. “Unless he’s telling you to go to bed, then listen to him.” 

The boys grumbled. He went inside just as Jack was being pulled down the stairs by Eddy. “Mr. President,” he greeted teasingly, “good to see you.”

“You too, Mr. Vice President.”

“Can I speak to you alone in your office?” 

Jack laughed and led him to the rooftop. Davey immediately dropped his bag and pulled him into a searing kiss. Jack returned it as Davey fisted a hand in his hair. Their teeth clattered together in a way that Jack was usually the one to initiate. Davey felt his little gasp of shock and tried not to smile. He grabbed onto the exposed neckline of his tank top and pulled him to the ground. Davey was straddling Jack’s lap and they were both breathing heavily by the time they broke apart.

“Hi.”

Davey laughed and rested his forehead on Jack’s. “Hi.”

“What was that all about?” 

He shrugged. “The good headline today?”

Jack laughed too and kissed him again.

Davey rolled off his lap and sat next to him against the short wall. “No, I’m just happy and kissing you always makes me happier.”

“What’s got you so happy?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, fine. Get me my bag.” He pointed to it across the roof.

“Why do I have to get it?”

“Because you love me and would do anything to make me happy.”

Jack rolled his eyes but gave in and went to retrieve it, mumbling “Lazy bum.” 

“Thanks, doll,” Davey said obnoxiously when he sat back down.

“Shut up.”

He dug the newspaper out of his bag and shoved it into Jack’s arms. “Look at the marked page.” He watched him read for a second.

“What am I looking at?”

“The ad on the bottom right corner.”

“Two ro- Dave. Do you- you’re not saying- is your family thinking of moving?”

Davey rolled his eyes. “No, they’re not.”

“What do you mean  _ ‘they’re  _ not’?”

“What I said.” He took Jack’s hand. “What do you think?” He found himself getting nervous as Jack looked at him incredulously. He had been so confident going in that he hadn’t even thought about what a negative reaction might look like. “You know what, let’s just forget about.” He snatched the paper back, mortified. “It was a stupid idea—” he stuffed it haphazardly back into the bag “—sorry I mentioned it.”

“Dave, no—”

“It’s fine. How was your day?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady and failing. “You’re done selling early, so good, yes?”

“Davey, sweetheart—”

“Let’s not talk about it. Actually, I only really had a few minutes so I should go.” He stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell Crutchie I said hi and—”

“Davey!” Jack grabbed his wrist. “Sit down.”

He did so reluctantly.

“Can you listen to me for two seconds?”

“Okay.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to respond. I was surprised is all. I didn’t think that was something you wanted.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You’ve been saying you’ll have to leave the lodging house soon and we’re always talking about how we don’t really get any time alone together.” He shrugged. “I thought it made sense.”

“It—”

“But if you and Crutchie were talking about figuring something out, that’s fine too. You’re not beholden to me. You can keep the ad if you want. It’s not on the first floor which isn’t ideal, but Crutchie gets up here every night so…”

“I’d love to get a place with you,” Jack said.

Davey felt his body release tension he hadn’t known it had and he relaxed marginally. “You would?”

“Course. I didn’t know you were looking to move out.”

“Kinda? I don’t know. You know I love being around my family, but I need to at some point and Les is getting bigger; there just isn’t enough room anymore. I’m making enough now that I could still pay for most of their stuff while supporting myself.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded. “And I don’t want you living alone unless you want to.”

Jack was so used to being surrounded by people that Davey feared he would get lonely if he lived on his own. He supposed Jack could move in with Medda if he wanted to, he Davey was happy that he seemed excited about the idea of living with him.

“I don’t.”

“It’ll be weird for me,” he admitted. “I haven’t gone twenty-four hours without seeing them in my entire life and I  _ really _ don’t know how to live without Sarah next to me, but…I have to at some point and she’s been encouraging me.”

Jack kissed his hand. “I’m proud of you.”

Davey scoffed.

“I’m serious! I know how close you are to them. You’re sure this isn’t about me though? I don’t want you doing nothing you don’t want to for my sake.”

“I’m not, but if I was, so what? I’m your fella—” he bumped his shoulder against Jack’s “—and you’re mine; is it so bad that I would want to live with you?”

Jack smirked. “Guess not. But Dave—” he took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair “—I don’t got no job lined up yet. I know I can’t sell papes much longer, but I don’t know what I can do.”

“Come work for the  _ World.” _

Jack snorted.

“Why not? The current cartoonist is spread too thin and…to be honest, he isn’t that great anymore. He’ll probably retire soon.”

“Joe ain’t gonna hire me.”

“He tried to!” Davey argued. “Less than six months ago.”

“And what if they don’t want me? ’Specially him.”

“They will.”

“I’m a street rat to them.” He said it with such anger and vitriol that Davey wondered if it was something that had been weighing on him, but he knew that was a matter for a different time. 

“So was I.”

“Not like I am.”

“Whatever. Look, they’ll like you, but if they don’t, the news editor and the features editor both like me; I’ll convince them.”

“Ain’t that nepotism?”

Davey smiled. “We’re not related and I wouldn’t be your boss. And I love Bill and Darcy and they’re both fantastic journalists, but you really think they would have been promoted so soon if their fathers didn’t own their papers?”

“I thought you said they deserved those promotions.”

“They did, but deserving something is rarely why you get it.”

Jack chuckled.

“If you don’t want that I won’t pressure you but it’s an option. I know it’s gonna be hard to not be a newsie anymore–”

“It’s not that. I mean, I guess it is but it’s not like I have a choice, do I? I’m not selling like I used to and Kloppman’s been real nice about it, but he wants me out. Race is ready to take over, it’s just…”

“It’s hard to move on?” Davey suggested.

He nodded.

Davey kissed his temple. “You’ve done so much for these kids and you’ve dedicated your life to making theirs better. You don’t have to stop that, but now it’s time to take care of yourself too, okay? And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Jack nodded stiffly and sniffled once. Davey pretended not to notice.

“Okay. Give me a few days to think about it, yeah?”

“Of course. I’m sorry to leave now but I really have to. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Love you.”

He kissed him slowly. “I love you too. Try not to stress.”

“Extra, extra! Hypocrite found on rooftop!”

“Hi, Ima.” David kissed his mother’s cheek. “How was your day?”

She smiled up at him from her seat. “It was fine. How was yours? You look very happy.”

He shrugged coyly. “It was good. Want to dance with me?”

“What? David, what’s going on?” She felt his forehead.

“I don’t have a fever, Ima. Is there something so wrong with me wanting to dance with my beautiful mother?”

She stared at him. “Are you drunk?”

“No!” he promised with a startled laugh. “Like I said, I had a good day.” He took her sewing out of her hands and set it on the table. He got to his feet and offered her a hand. “Shall we?”

“There isn’t any music.”

“We don’t need it,” he argued.

“Mrs. Moskowitz will bang on the ceiling.”

“Let her.”

His mother looked at him analytically.

“Pretend I have flowers to give you.”

She laughed and gave in, taking his hand and standing. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, boychik.”

“What, right now?” He drew his mother in, one hand on her waist and one hand in hers. She rested her other hand on his shoulder and he started moving. 

“No, in general. These last few months, there’s been less of a weight on your shoulders. The David of a year ago would have snapped at his siblings for dancing around the room noisily.” 

He spun her. “The David of a year ago hadn’t gone on strike yet.”

“This didn’t start after the strike.”

Before David could respond the door opened and his sister and father walked in, but neither David nor Esther we’re inclined to stop dancing.

“Um, what?”

“Esther? What are you doing?”

“I’m dancing with our son, Mayer, what does it look like I’m doing?”

“Would you like to cut in, Aba?”

His father sputtered as they danced over to him and Esther grabbed her husband.

David offered his hand to his sister. “Madame? I know I didn’t fill out your dance card or anything but—”

She took it. “Shut up.” 

They danced around clumsily, laughing and bumping into each other until Mrs. Moskowitz banged the handle of her broom on her ceiling and yelled at them to be quiet. They all collapsed into chairs, out of breath and laughing even more.

“Where did that come from, Esther?”

“Don’t look at me.”

_ “David? _ That was your idea?”

“He said he had a good day.”

He nodded. “I did.”

“So dancing was the obvious answer?” Sarah was looking at him like she thought he had ulterior motives of some kind, though he wasn’t sure what those could have been.

“What’s so wrong with dancing?” he asked.

“Nothing, boychik,” his mother assured, “we’re just surprised. I already told you that you’ve been a lot more cheerful lately. It’s wonderful to see.”

“I guess I have been. I hadn’t thought about it.” It made sense. Getting through the day had felt easier lately and not just because he was working semi-regular hours. “I’m not sure why.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “It’s because you’re not in school anymore and you aren’t awake twenty hours a day.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s nice to see.”

David smiled. Sarah was probably right. The old adage that money couldn’t buy happiness may have been true, but David found that it was pretty hard to have happiness when he didn’t know where his family’s next meal was coming from or if he would be able to pay rent that month. His job as Mr. Pulitzer’s assistant certainly didn’t make them rich (or even not poor), but they had steady meals and they weren’t in danger of eviction.

He had also gained confidence. David had never thought of himself as having particularly low self-esteem, but he now realized that he had been wrong. With the  _ World _ occasionally publishing his articles and him talking to some of the workers about unionizing came becoming more sure of himself. He still got very nervous if he had to speak to large groups of people and whenever he handed an editor his writing, but he  _ could _ do it.

“Thanks. But of course I’m happy, I have all of you.”

Sarah kissed his cheek and his parents smiled.

“I should get up and make supper,” Esther said.

“No, don’t worry about it, Ima,” David said, standing and gesturing for her to stay seated. “I’ll make supper tonight. Why don’t you go lie down?”

“Oh, David, you don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

“All right. Thank you, boychik. I’ll finish my patchwork then.”

“No, I’ll do that,” Sarah said. “There isn’t much left tonight.”

“But—”

“Ima, Aba, when was the last time the two of you had fifteen minutes to be together without working?”

Neither of them answered.

“Exactly,” Sarah continued. “You have a chance now before Les gets home.”

“We’re very lucky to have such good children,” Mayer said as Esther came to give them each a kiss on the forehead.

“So,” Sarah began when they were alone, “what did Jack say?”

“Shh! I haven’t told them yet.”

“Oh, relax. I’m using English for a reason.”

“They know lots of English.”

“Not when I’m speaking this fast.”

“They certainly know the word ‘Jack’,” David pointed out. “And he said yes.”

Sarah squealed and jumped on him in a hug.

“Hey! Whoa, hot water on the stove, be careful.”

She didn’t seem to care. “That’s so exciting!”

“Yeah.” He couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, it is. I’m not sure when or where or what he’s doing for work but at some point.”

“Why doesn’t he try at the  _ World? _ He was already offered a job there, who says he won’t be offered one again?” 

“I told him that and he said he’d think about it. Either way…”

“I’m so proud of you, neshama.”

“Proud?”

“Yes. You’re working to be happy for the first time in my memory. I’ve never been prouder of you.”

“Not even when I helped lead a strike?” he teased.

She looked at him very seriously and shook her head. “No, not even then.”

Les swung in between his siblings as they walked him to school. Every once and a while they would lift their arms up and let him fly off the ground for a second.

“You’re going to be too big for this soon, żabko.”

“No, I won’t. Just get stronger.”

David laughed. “It’s more of a matter of height.”

“Then get taller.”

“The kid’s got a point. Just grow, Davey.” The siblings looked ahead. Les gasped and threw himself at Katherine. She wrapped her arms around him. “Hi Les. How are you?”

“I’m great!”

“What are you doing here, Kath?” Sarah asked.

“I’m doing an interview a few blocks away in a little while and I figured you’d be walking by here soon.”

“And you wanted to see us?”

“I wanted to see  _ you, _ Les. I could do without your siblings.”

“Hey!”

“That’s fair.”

Katherine giggled attractively. “Can I walk you the rest of the way?” She sent David a glance that let him know there was more to this than just wanting to see her friends.

“Of course.”

“So what’s going on?” Sarah asked once Les was safely inside the school. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine, I just wanted to run something by you both. Especially you, Davey.”

“What is it?”

“The interview I’m doing is at St. George’s.”

“Why would you be doing an interview at David’s old school?”

“Denton and I are investigating rumors of corruption.”

David scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah,  _ rumors.” _

“I know. We were wondering if you’d be willing to go on the record?”

“Oh.” That could be dangerous. He was happy to expose the corruption in the halls of St. George’s of course, but ratting out his school wouldn’t look good to future employers on the off chance that they were to find out about the story. “Uh, can I think about it? Sorry.”

“No, that’s fine,” she assured, “I thought you would say that. I understand if you can’t. And if you want to but don’t want to use your name, we could do that too.”

“That won’t have the same power of persuasion.”

Katherine shrugged. “I know, but it’s better than nothing.”

“All right. I’ll let you know, but you can use me for background no matter what.”

“Thank you. Sarah?” 

“Me? What do I have to do with this?” she asked. “I didn’t go there.”

“No,” Katherine conceded, “but you’ve seen the effects of the corruption.”

“How?” David asked.

She stared at him blankly. “How about from the black and blue paintings all over your body?”

“Hang on, I thought you were talking about financial corruption.”

“I  _ am. _ It’s not just about bribes or whatever. You think that if your parents had given them as much money as the other boys did they would have gotten away with what they did to you?”

David didn’t bother to answer.

“Exactly.”

Sarah nodded. “I’ll do it if David decides to.”

“Great. Thanks, guys, I know it’s weird.”

“A little,” he admitted, “but you’re doing a good thing. Most good things feel weird at first.”


	2. Chapter Two

At exactly noon every Tuesday, Davey made his way to his old selling spot and today was no different. Jack was leaning against a lamppost, hands in his pockets, grinning cockily.

“Afternoon, gorgeous,” he greeted. “What’s a pretty young thing like you doing out here all alone?”

Davey shushed him.

“Shush me all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re blushing.”

“I have to be back at work in fifty minutes, do you want to waste it standing here and mocking me or do you want lunch?”

“Lunch, please.”

“That’s what I thought.” He had to stop himself from reaching for Jack’s hand. “Hi.”

“Hi. How’s work?”

“Fine. How’s selling?”

“Good headline today, not as good as yesterday’s though.”

Davey tried to get him to walk but for some reason, Jack didn’t budge. “Jack, come on.”

“I changed my mind.”

“About what?”

“We’re only five minutes from the theater and no one’s there at this time of day.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“So we’ll stop for food on the way back. Please, Davey?” He made his puppy dog eyes and Davey gave in.

“Fine.”

“You sound pretty put out about it,” Jack mumbled as they walked along. “Kissing’s ’posed to be a fun thing.” 

“Is it?” Davey pretended to be doubtful. “That surprises me.”

“Well, I’ll just have to show you. I’ve gotten lots of compliments.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard, so you’re just going to have to prove it.”

Davey made comments like that the whole way to the theater and Jack whined petulantly. They were both disappointed when they heard voices upon arriving backstage.

“Who’s there?” called a voice from the stage. 

Jack groaned and Davey laughed at his expense. “It’s just us, Medda!” he called, literally having to pull Jack onstage.

“Hey, boys! How are you?” She was standing next to a man and a woman whom Davey didn’t know. 

“We’re okay, Medda. How are you?”

“Just fine. Jack?” He was still pouting. “Aren’t you happy to see me?” she teased.

Jack sighed and accepted a hug. “Hey, Medda. Who’s this?”

“Boys, allow me to introduce Mr. Alfred Westbrook and Ms. Jane Farley Westbrook. They’re looking for a spot to hold a rally and he’s visiting to discuss it.”

“Well, you couldn’t’ve picked a better spot,” Jack said as Davey’s jaw quite literally dropped.

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir, ma’am,” he said earnestly. “I was a big fan of your late wife’s and mother’s.”

Jack looked at him quizzically. He obviously didn’t know who they were talking to.

Westbrook wobbled over and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, son. What’s your name?”

“David, sir. David Jacobs.”

“You’re a suffragist then, David?”

He nodded emphatically. “Yes, sir.”

“And what about your friend over here?”

Jack nodded and Medda said, “These are two of the young people who led the newsboy strike.”

“I read about your rally,” Ms. Farley Westbrook said. “That’s why we came here.”

“Ain’t no better place to hold a rally than Medda’s theater,” Jack told them. “When?”

“About a month, if Ms. Larkin is okay with it.” They looked at her.

“Of course! I’d be honored.”

“Will it be open to everyone?” David asked.

“Absolutely. Do you have women in your family who’d like to come?”

He smiled, delighted. “Yes, ma’am. A mother and a sister, though my whole family is for suffrage.”

“How old is your sister?”

“Eighteen.”

“We’ll be setting up for about a week in advance. Tell her to stop by - your mother too, if she’d like - and she’d be more than welcome to be involved.”

David didn’t think he had ever heard anything better than that. Sarah would be so excited. He wanted to run home and tell her right away.

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you!”

“Sarah’s a lovely girl,” Medda told her, “and smart as a whip.”

Ms. Farley Westbrook looked at her father, probably to ensure he was okay. He was getting on in years and leaning heavily on his cane for support. “We should be going. Thank you again, Ms. Larkin. We’ll discuss details soon?”

They left and David was practically jumping for joy around the stage. Medda laughed at him.

“Medda, how could you not have told me?” he exclaimed. “They’re amazing!”

“I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure!” She hugged David, still chuckling.

“Does somebody want to tell me what just happened?”

“Jack! That was Alfred Westbrook and Jane Farley Westbrook!”

“I heard their names.”

“No! They’re huge names in the suffragist community. They’re the editors of  _ The Egalitarian. _ He and his wife, Rose Farley started it! Sarah and I used to use our penny candy money to buy it.”

“I’m glad you’re happy,” Jack said with a smile. He came and gave him a peck on the lips.

Davey blushed. He knew Medda knew about their relationship but he was still getting used to being open about it with anybody except Katherine and Sarah. A few of their other friends knew, but David wasn’t yet comfortable displaying affection around them. 

“I’m going to go eat,” Medda said. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” She winked and left.

“Finally, we’re alone.”

“Is that all you can ever think about?”

“Sometimes I think about painting or Crutchie but…mostly you, yeah.”

“I hope you don’t think about Crutchie like you think about me.”

“Don’t even suggest that, Dave, he’s like my brother.” He grimaced.

Davey laughed at his expense again. “I know, I’m only joking.” He pulled Jack backstage just in case anybody came in. “I only have fifteen minutes.”

“Ugh. I can’t wait until we’ve got our own place and I can kiss you as much as I want.”

Warmth spread across David’s body. He took back what he had thought before;  _ that _ was the best thing he had ever heard. He grinned.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just happy to hear you say that. I’m excited.”

“Me too. What did your folks say?”

“I’ll let you know when I tell them.”

“The sooner the better. If they find out last minute, they’re gonna kill you.”

“I know. Now are you going to kiss me or what? I’m waiting, Kelly.”

Katherine showed up at the office in the late afternoon. She was frowning and clutching a book to her chest.

“Katherine? Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I was at St. George’s.” She sounded off.

“Is everything okay? Sit down.” He offered her a chair. She didn’t take her eyes off of him as she sat.

“I was talking to a teacher and he found an empty classroom for us to speak in.” She handed him the book. “There were about twenty of these on the shelves.”

He scanned the cover. “Oh, yeah, we read this in German class a few years ago.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“It is what it is. I think it was taught more because it was short and in German than it was for ideology. Plus, it’s unrealistic and nobody thought it was a true story or anything.”

“It’s a metaphor!” He shrugged and it seemed to anger her. “It doesn’t offend you? It offends me!”

“It  _ does _ offend me, I just didn’t take the time to be affected by it. Trust me, I’ve seen worse.” He handed her the book back.

“Katherine?” Pulitzer popped out of his office. “I thought I heard your voice. What are you doing here?”

“Look what I just found at St. George’s.” She shoved the book into his hands. “Davey said they read it in class!”

Pulitzer glanced at it and raised an eyebrow, meeting David’s eyes. He answered his boss with a shrug.

“It’s a shame, certainly.”

Katherine sputtered. “I don’t- how can you be so nonchalant about this? Your sons went there! You have more sons who will go there!”

“It’s a book, Katherine.”

“Books influence us more than almost anything else, especially when we’re children.”

“Yeah,” David conceded, “but we read it when we were fifteen. Most of us had our minds made up on the subject already.”

“What?”

“I mean, I was on the fence.”

Pulitzer laughed. “If you’re so concerned then read it. You’ll see how ridiculous it is.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s ridiculous, because it was published and taught in schools! And I don’t speak German!”

“I’ll teach you,” David offered, “we’ve already got our textbook.”

“Davey!”

“Katherine, dearest, I say this with love, but David and I have dealt with a lot worse than that. He still does. It’s exhausting to take everything personally. I’m glad you don’t have to deal with it as much as I did at your age and I agree that it’s an offensive book, but there isn’t much to do that will change it.”

“You’re wrong,” she said emphatically. “The world is changing and this can too.” 

David admired her passion but knew it was overly optimistic. The world may have been changing, but that wasn’t.

“Let’s fix things we  _ can _ fix first, okay? There’s only so much change the world will accept at once,” he told her.

“You’re not concerned about this?”

“At present I’m more concerned with my father and people like him having unions and my sister having the vote. And by the way, so are you.”

“I can be equally concerned!” she argued. “It’s not one thing at once.”

“Then pick something else—” David couldn’t stop the aggravation from seeping into his voice. “—because all this will do is exhaust you.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s like you don’t care about it! It’s like you want to be hated!”

“Katherine!” Pulitzer snapped.

David’s hands stopped shuffling paper. He took a deep breath. “No, I don’t want to be hated, Katherine. I’m realistic and I want to survive. I like being able to walk home without being hurt. I like being able to go to temple without having to fear for my life. If we bring it up now or start some movement or whatever, all it’s going to do is make things worse. I have all the rights other white men have so I’d rather focus on getting those rights for other people.”

“He’s right,” Pulitzer said. “Nobody is going to get behind it and if they did it would be disastrous. People would get hurt.”

“People already get hurt! David did! People like us are in danger if we-”

David couldn’t handle it anymore and he cut her off. “Due respect, but please don’t equate our situations when it comes to this. Somebody gossiping about your heritage isn’t the same as what someone like me deals with. You go to church and you live in a good neighborhood and nobody would dare hurt you. I appreciate that you’re upset and I’m not trying to take away your identity. You have a right to be offended as a woman with Jewish heritage but you don’t have a right to say ‘people like us’ when you’ve never been spat at or kicked or punched. You’ve never been beaten until you said Hail Marys. You didn’t have to think too much about it until you saw that book. If I say I don’t want to rock the boat it isn’t because I don’t care about the suffering of Jews, it’s because I do. And trust me, being a Jew here is a lot easier than it was back home.

“Excuse me,” he concluded, “I have to speak to someone downstairs.”

He felt badly for lecturing Katherine like that (and a little nervous that he had done it in front of her father), but there was only so much he could take. He really hadn’t been trying to take away her Jewishness, just explaining how their situations differed. In many ways, he had it easier because he was a man, but it was insulting for one of the richest women in the country to say that they were in the same situation.

The whole thing brought back some memories he would rather have forgotten and he shivered. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to work late because he needed the time to go and get a hug from Jack.

It was seven when he left for the night and Jack was waiting for him outside, leaning against a trash can.

“Jack? What are you doing here?”

“Katherine said you had an argument and that you probably weren’t feeling well. So here I am.”

Katherine was the greatest type of friend. She still cared about how he was feeling even if she was angry.

“Yeah. Thanks, you didn’t have to come.”

“I wanted to. Just think, soon enough you’ll come home and I’ll be there. Or we can walk home together.”

“You mean…?”

“I’m gonna try and work here.”

“Jacky…you’re not doing that for me, are you?”

“Nah.” Jack shrugged. “Maybe a little bit, but I need a job and this would be a good one. It’s just weird asking Joe for a job.”

“You could try the  _ Sun? _ Or the  _ Trib?” _ he suggested.

“You don’t work at the  _ Sun _ or the  _ Trib,  _ though. Come on, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” He followed Jack down the sidewalk.

“Lodging house.”

“But-”

“I already cleared it with your folks and Kloppman. Stay the night?” He sounded a little worried so Davey flashed him a bright smile.

“I’d love to. In your room, right? I’m not sleeping on the rooftop in January if I don’t have to.”

“My room. Not all the boys are back yet; if we get there quick we can sneak past and none of them can bother us.”

They rushed to the lodging house. Jack almost tripped twice and Davey didn’t stop laughing at him for the reminder of their run. Jack glared the whole time. Fortunately, only a few of the older boys were around. They were playing cards and only gave them a passing wave.

Davey threw himself down on Jack’s bunk as hard as he could (without breaking it, that is), landing on his back. He earned himself another glare and grinned impishly.

“I’m happy you’re happy, Dave,” Jack said, lying down on his stomach next to him. “You’ve been lots happier lately.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“’Cause it’s true. You’re relaxed, for you.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’s still one of the most stressed people I know.”

Davey reached over and combed a hand through Jack’s hair. “Mm, that’s nice. You’re nice.” Jack settled on his chest and closed his eyes. 

“Glad to hear it.” Out of the corner of his eye, Davey noticed a splotch of blue in a sea of reds. Most of Jack’s paintings were done in warm colors. Medda’s sets were mostly pinks, oranges, and reds, and Jack was allowed to take whatever was left over. The very small amounts of other colors he had were rarely used and he was extremely careful about them.

In the pile of boards and canvasses leaning against a wall in a corner of the small, concrete room was a pair of eyes. If Davey didn’t know better he would have said it was a photograph, but this was in color. The eyes were a beautiful, earthy color, somewhere between green and blue, but they were surrounded by deeper shades of blue. It seemed layered, and Davey wasn’t sure if it was an optical illusion or not. The darker the shade the thicker the paint seemed, and the darkest shade of blue even flowed over parts of the eyes. It was beautiful and haunting. On one hand, the eyes were ethereal and definitely the most beautiful he had ever seen, but on the other, the eyes were terribly sad. They were filled with pain.

His first guess was that they were Jack’s but his eyes were greener. It would have made sense if they were though. Who else did Jack know who had endured pain like that? All of the newsies led tough lives but this seemed different; like somebody whose pain Jack felt intimately. His second guess was Crutchie, but those didn’t look like his eyes either.

“Jacky?”

“Mm.” He was half-asleep.

“Who is that?”

Jack turned over and followed Davey’s finger to where the painting was.

“That’s you.” He turned back over and closed his eyes again.

“Me? What? They look…so pained.”

“Yeah. It’s you the day I saw you at Medda’s and I apologized to you.”

“I looked like that when you apologized?”

“You looked like that the whole time. You looked like that for weeks: beautiful but suffering.”

“Oh. Did you make it that night?”

“No, I made it last week. You were smiling so much on Sunday and I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky I am to be able to see it after what happened.” He said all of it into Davey’s chest, seemingly indifferent.

“Jack…that’s…I didn’t realize you thought I looked like that.”

“Everyone did. I’ll get rid of it if it makes you sad.”

“No! No, Jacky, please never get rid of your art, especially not on my account. It’s beautiful.”

“Mm, ’course it is, it’s you.”

David got home around six thirty on Wednesday night. He briefly spoke to his parents and ruffled his brother's hair before climbing up the fire escape to the roof. He hadn’t seen Sarah since the previous afternoon when he’d used an errand as an excuse to go see her and tell her about the rally, and he’d missed her the whole day.

“Katherine came by today,” Sarah said. “Why is she so upset?” She handed him a shirt from the pile as he sat down.

“Hello to you too,” David quipped. “What did she tell you?”

“Just that you’re abandoning your values and that I had to do something about it.”

He rolled his eyes.

“So what really happened?” Sarah turned her gaze back to her sewing, which David appreciated. He sometimes needed a minute to gather himself when he was upset or frustrated about something.

“Do you remember the antisemitic book I had to read for German class a few years back?”

“Is this the one about the guy who gets surgery?”

_ “Der operirte Jud, _ yeah. She saw it when she visited St. George’s and came to the office to ask me about it. She wants to do something about it.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, like start a revolution of some kind?”

She snorted. “Yeah, that would go over well.”

“Exactly. She thought Mr. Pulitzer and I were being flippant,” he explained, “and maybe we were for her purposes. She’s never experienced something like this before and she was very offended and I probably should have had more respect for that.”

“But? I can sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“But she started going on about ‘people like us.’”

Sarah inhaled sharply through her teeth.

“Yeah, exactly. I might have…gone a little overboard in my reaction. I was angry and I mentioned some things I’ve only ever told you and Jack about. It was in front of Mr. Pulitzer, too.”

“When was this?”

“Yesterday. Mr. Pulitzer hasn’t said anything. I think he agrees with me, but Katherine is his daughter and I don’t want him to think— Ow!” He brought his finger to his mouth and sucked on the injury instinctively.

“You always stop paying attention to the needle when you’re worked up. Are you okay, boychik?”

He couldn’t be sure if she was referring to the prick he’d given himself or to the rest of the conversation. “I’m fine. So what do I do?”

“About Katherine? You know her better than I do.”

“I don’t think that’s true, neshama. You two seem to spend all your free time together these days.”

“Maybe,” she conceded. “Okay, well, do you want to apologize?”

He shrugged. “I’ll apologize for snapping, but not for the sentiment behind it.”

“That’s fair. Really fair. I’m proud of you.”

“Proud of me?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “For what?”

“For not apologizing for something that you didn’t do or wasn’t wrong. You used to do that a lot.”

“I guess…”

“Is she still on the warpath?”

David snorted. “Probably. Nothing will come of it. She doesn’t have power or anything, but it’s still frustrating.”

“She may not have power, but she has the one thing in America that will make people listen to a woman.”

“What?”

“Money.”

He groaned.

“Hey, it’s possible she’s not going to do anything. What would she do, anyway?”

“Write an article? Talk to her rich friends about it? I don’t know.”

“Look, no matter what she does about it, it’s not going to affect anything or anyone.”

“I know that, but it would be nice if she could…” He sighed. “I love Katherine. You know I love Katherine.”

“I do.”

“Sometimes she gets these ideas that are good at heart, but she lets her ideals blind her to reality. She means well, I know that. I hate criticizing her for being a good person.” His eyebrows were scrunched up and he focused intently on the sewing.

“You’re not criticizing her for being a good person, you’re criticizing her for being insensitive. There’s a difference. You have a right to be upset about it.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I’m not trying to erase her Judaism.”

“And how, exactly, is pointing out that she doesn’t understand what your life is like erasing her Judaism?” She didn’t get an answer. “Exactly.”

“I guess. I don’t like arguing with people.”

She gave him a sympathetic look. “I know you don’t, boychik. I’m sure it will blow over. You’re a good friend and so is she.”

“Yeah. Thanks. You always give the best advice.”

“I know. I’m pretty great, aren’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred Westbrook and Jane Farley Westbrook are based on Henry Blackwell and Alice Stone Blackwell, the husband and the daughter of Lucy Stone, respectively. Henry and Lucy we’re prominent suffragists and the editors of the Women’s Journal, among other things.


	3. Chapter Three

After carefully calculating the precise moment with Sarah, David had decided on supper to be the time when he told his parents about his plans with Jack. He waited until Esther was finished serving Les his stew.

“So, Ima, Aba. Another one of my articles is probably going to be published next week.”

“That’s wonderful news!”

“Congratulations, boychik.”

“Thanks.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Work is going well.”

His parents exchanged glances. David rubbed his hands up and down his thighs nervously.

“We know,” Mayer said. “Is something going on?”

“Nothing bad.” Sarah gave him an encouraging nudge with her foot under the table. “Les is getting bigger.”

“I’m almost as tall as you now, David!”

“Not quite,” Mayer chuckled. Les was still about a foot and a half shorter than David but it was sweet.

“Having five grown people in here is going to be a lot, and Les really is growing quickly.”

“What’s your point, David?”

“Sorry, Aba. I was talking to Jack. He’s getting too old to sell newspapers and he’ll have to move out of the lodging house soon. He needs a roommate and-”

“No,” his father breathed.

David nodded shyly. “Yes.”

“He asked you?”

“No, I asked him, Ima.” His parents were deadly silent. “I knew he needed to and it  _ is _ getting crowded in here and-”

“Mr. and Mrs. Frazier down the street have seven children and they make it work!” she argued. 

“Yes, and it’s too crowded. It’s not just about that, though. It’s a lot closer to work and-”

“You already have a new home?”

“No! No, we saw an ad in the paper.” He played with his lower lip nervously. “It’s closer to work and it’s only seven dollars a month. I could still pay for rent and food for you guys.”

“Why do you want to leave?” The family turned to its youngest member. He was on the verge of tears and David wished he had noticed sooner. “Did we do something wrong?”

“No, boychik, you didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. Come here.” Les hopped into his lap (it occurred to David that he would be too big to do so soon enough). “It has nothing to do with you or anyone else but me, okay? I can’t stay here forever and this is a good time for me to leave.”

“But why?” he sniffled.

“Because Jack needs to move too and we’ll both need a roommate. I’d rather live with Jack than a stranger.”

“I’ll be your roommate! Just stay!”

“Oh, sweetheart, I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ll be around to visit all the time, I promise.” Les tightened his grip on David. “I’m sorry.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Les.”

David looked to his parents, hoping to see something resembling support on their faces, but all he saw was concern.

“Are you sure, David? We’ve lived with five people this long, we can make it work. You’re not obligated to leave.”

“I know,” he said with a nod, “but this is what’s best for me. For all of us. I need to at some point, right?”

“Right,” Mayer reluctantly agreed.

“I’ll be around a lot, if that’s okay with you.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? We always want you here, David.”

“Thanks, Ima. So…it’s okay?”

His parents had a silent conversation. Eventually, Mayer nodded. “Yes, it’s okay.”

“Thank you. I’ll—”

“But there will be rules, David.”

He nodded. Even though he was technically an adult now and he was the family’s breadwinner, his parents were his parents and he would respect their authority.

“You’ll stay here Friday nights. We’re still a family and we’ll be together for Shabbat.”

“Of course.”

“I want to see you more than once a week, do you understand?”

“Yes, Aba.”

“Good. And Ima will be coming with you when you meet with whoever your landlord might be.”

At that, he had to protest. He loved his mother, but he couldn’t very well have a conversation with Jack about an important decision like that in front of someone who didn’t and couldn’t know about the nature of their relationship.

“But, Aba—”

“No buts, David.”

It felt a lot like he was Sarah. He was speaking at home more those last few months than he ever had before. He’d found that when he hadn’t, he was kept out of decisions and seeing as he was in charge of the family’s finances as of last summer, he needed to be a part of all of them. With being more assertive came being told off and told what to do more, just like Sarah constantly was. His father had been slightly more controlling in general since his injury, probably because he felt ashamed that David was filling the role of the man of the house, so to speak. David tried to do what he was told as often impossible. He always had, but it was more important than ever at current.

“Yes, Aba.”

“Good. Eat your food.”

Jack was standing by his desk when David came in the next morning. Nobody else was there.

“Jack? What are you doing here?”

“Well, hello to you too, gorgeous.” His eyes scanned David up and down and he whistled. “Looking good today.”

David rolled his eyes. “I wear the same three outfits.”

“Yeah, and you always look good.”

“Yeah, yeah. Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” He put his bag down and let Jack take his hand. He’d thought he was just going to give it a squeeze, but then Jack lifted it to his lips and kissed it softly.

“You really do look gorgeous,” he whispered.

David melted. “Thanks,” he managed to get out. “You do too.”

Jack smirked.

“Seriously, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Joe. Katherine made him agree to see me this morning about the job.” He wore a cocky grin.

“That’s great, Jacky.” He sat down and Jack, instead of pulling up another chair, sat on his desk. “Hey!”

“What?”

“Your pants probably have dirt on them. Get off my desk.”

“I’m just admiring it. It’s pretty nice that my fella has a fancy desk like this all to himself. And you got letters addressed to you.” He pointed to one of the piles on his less than neatly organized desk. There were several envelopes with his name and the building’s address on them.

“Most of those are really for Mr. Pulitzer.”

“That means not all of them. Look at that! ‘Mr. David Jacobs.’”

David rolled his eyes fondly. “It’s not a big deal. It’s mail, Jacky.”

“I’ve never gotten mail! Let me be happy.”

“Okay,” he chuckled.

“Good morning, Jacobs. Mr. Kelly.” Pulitzer stepped out of the elevator and smiled tightly. “I was told you’d be here.”

“Yes, sir,” he said casually. He stood and put his hands in his pockets. “Heard you could use a new cartoonist.”

“Are you sure it’s not that you need a job?”

“Eh.” Jack shrugged. “A relationship that works for both of us. What’s that called again, Davey?”

“Symbiotic.”

“Right. Symbiotic.”

Pulitzer huffed and gestured for Jack to follow him into his office.

David had every reason to believe Jack would be hired. Firstly, because Katherine had made her father meet with him and secondly, because despite having gone head to head with Jack for two weeks, Pulitzer had offered him a job that past summer. He could clearly see how talented Jack was. 

As he looked through the notes left for Pulitzer that morning, David let his mind drift to thoughts of eating lunch at his desk with Jack, lingering when he walked through whichever bullpen Jack ended up in more times a day than was strictly necessary, sharing office gossip with him, and then walking home together, going to bed together, and getting ready together the next morning.

“Good morning, David,” Hannah greeted.

“Good morning. I beat you,” he gloated. “I told you I would one day.”

She gave him a patronizing frown. “Did you? Sorry to break it to you, but I’ve been here for half an hour. I just went downstairs for something.”

He huffed. “Whatever.”

“Oh, relax,” she said with a smile.

“Fine. How was your night last night?”

“It was fine. Annie asked after you again.”

David grinned. Annie was Hannah’s adopted daughter. Her sister-in-law had passed in childbirth and her brother-in-law hadn’t been able to raise Annie, so Hannah and her husband, Eugene, had taken her in. She was eight. David had met her on several occasions and it was safe to say that Annie had a crush on him. 

“How was your night?”

“Good. Jack and I are planning on getting our own apartment and I told my parents.”

“You are? Mazel tov!”

He laughed. “Thanks.”

They worked for a while and gossiped more than was strictly necessary. Then, out of nowhere, Hannah asked, “Would you say my husband is handsome?”

“Um, what?”

“You’ve met him, David. Would you say my husband is handsome?” 

“He’d have to be to catch your eye.”

“Are you calling me shallow?” Hannah teased.

“No, I’m calling you beautiful.”

“You’re a good boy,” she praised. “So yes?”

“Yes, he’s handsome. Hannah, why are you—”

“Great. He and his niece look a lot alike.”

“His— no.” David saw the mischievous glint in her eye and shook his head emphatically. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not? Mary is a lovely girl.”

“I’m sure she is, but I’m not— stop trying to set me up!” he pleaded.

Hannah threw her hands up in defeat but didn’t stop smiling.

“Hannah…”

“You’d like her. She’s smart and sarcastic. You like smart and sarcastic. Just think of how happy you’ll be at family dinners with me.”

“Family dinners? Now I’m getting married?”

“To a very pretty girl.”

“I’m not going out with her,” he declared. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Many reasons.” He shifted his gaze towards the paperwork he was reviewing. 

“Such as?” Hannah prompted. “Don’t pretend to be busy with work. I’m the master of that, you think I can’t tell?”

David resigned himself to the fact that the conversation was going to happen. He sighed and said, “One reason is that I’ve never met her.”

“So meet her. Come over for dinner and I’ll invite her.”

“That’s not the only reason. How’d you think it would go over if I brought a girl home to meet my parents and introduced her by saying ‘this is Mary’?”

“Say her name is Mindy.”

“Hannah…”

She shrugged and her smile dropped. “Fine. Be that way.”

“Why are you so insistent that I meet a girl?” he asked. “This is the third time in as many weeks that you’ve suggested somebody.”

“I’m allowed to worry about you,” she replied.

“What’s there to be worried about? Plenty of boys

my age don’t have girls.”

“Most are at least interested.”

“It’s not that I’m uninterested, it’s just that I’m…okay, fine, I’m uninterested. I work a lot and I don’t have time. Plus, I’m not the only one.” He gestured to Pulitzer’s office. “Jack doesn’t have a girl.”

For some reason, Hannah’s frown deepened. “Okay,” she said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

“Is everything okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Do you want to hear about Gregory from accounting and how he’s definitely in love with Ruth from entertainment?”

She obviously didn’t want to be pushed so David nodded and let her move on. She’d been acting strange lately and David was determined to get to the bottom of it, but for now, it could wait.

“Your ma?”

“I’m sorry. Aba insisted and—”

“It’s fine, Dave,” Jack assured him, “I was a little surprised is all.”

They were on the roof and Jack was sitting up against the knee wall. Davey was sitting in the v his legs formed and reclining on Jack’s front.

“Are you sure?”

Jack kissed his shoulder. “Positive. Relax.”

“I’m not not relaxed.”

He snorted. “Yeah, okay.”

Davey settled into Jack’s arms as they wrapped around him. He felt Jack kiss his neck and heard him say to close his eyes. He floated between wakefulness and sleep for a while.

It was chilly out, but he didn’t notice. Davey wasn’t a fan of the cold to say the least. It reminded him of some of the worst nights of his life; it reminded him of Les crying because snow had soaked through his ratty shoes and they didn’t have a replacement; it reminded him of his cruel classmates ripping his his scarf off his neck and throwing it in the back of a passing wagon to never be seen again.

With Jack, cliched as it may have been, the cold bothered him less. Sure, when they’d been selling in threadbare clothes on snowy days, Davey had been desperate to go inside, but when they were alone and had the ability to go inside whenever they so chose to, Davey latched onto Jack and didn’t have a reaction to the cold other than the occasional shiver. Sarah had mocked him profusely when he’d told her all that.

He opened his eyes. The sky was gray and getting grayer and he would have to head home soon. “I don’t want to leave,” Davey said.

“Then don’t.”

“I have to.”

Jack sighed. “I know.”

“It won’t be this way for much longer.”

“I know, but I wish—”

“Jack?” a feminine voice called. “Jack, are you up here?” Katherine appeared at the top of the ladder. “Oh. Davey.”

“Hi,” he said awkwardly.

Jack made no move to get out of their position. Normally, Davey wasn’t big on being so openly affectionate even in front of Katherine, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was comfortable and happy and he wasn’t going to let her ruin his evening.

Katherine ruining his evening. When had he started thinking like that? It had been less than a week since his argument with Katherine, so why did it feel like they’d been enemies for years? She was still one of his best friends and Davey wished he could get over it already. Sarah had assured him that he had a right to be upset and that he should stop feeling like he didn’t, but it wasn’t that simple.

“Hi.”

“What’s going on, Katherine?” Jack asked. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I…Everything’s fine. I can come back later.” She started to climb back down.

“Why?” Davey asked. “Do you need me to leave?”

“No, it’s…I had a union question.”

“I’m the vice president. I can’t be here for it?”

Jack squeezed his arm. Ever since Davey had been ousted from his position by the other newsies and then brought back, Jack seemed to think that Davey was still sensitive about it. Maybe he was, a little, but if he sounded tense in that moment, it was more about Katherine than anything else.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and stepped onto the roof. Usually, she would sit down next to them or at least close to them, but she was at least five feet away when she sat down.

“What’s the question?”

Katherine seemed to be wracking her brain for one.

“Oh. You don’t have a question about the union,” Davey said. “You wanted to talk to Jack about me.”

“I’m sure that ain’t true. Right, Ace?”

She didn’t say anything.

“I’ll go,” Davey offered and stood.

“Dave, you don’t have to—”

“It’s fine, Jack. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He didn’t look back as he left. 


	4. Chapter Four

On Sunday morning, David got dressed in the dark. He didn’t want his family to be awake before they had to be, but he needed to leave early. Need may have been an exaggeration, but he certainly  _ wanted _ to leave early.

The cool morning air was refreshing. David reveled in the bite of it and the howling in his ears. It reminded him of home, and of the cool autumns and early springs running around in the fields with Sarah and their friends. The sun wasn’t yet over the horizon and the streets were largely abandoned. Of course, living in New York, he’d come to learn that abandoned meant dozens of people out and about, as opposed to hundreds.

It was too cold at night for even Jack to want to be outside, so David rapped lightly on the front door instead of climbing the rusty fire escape. He was glad for it. There was always a voice at the back of his head telling him he was going to fall and die when he climbed up it.

The door creaked open just a little bit and one of the littles poked his head out. “Mr. Jacobs?”

Davey resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Good morning, Maxwell. What are you doing up before the bell? I figured one of the older boys who are usually awake now would answer.”

He shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“You’ve still got about an hour. Want to try again?” He used the soft tone he used with Les when he couldn’t sleep.

Maxwell nodded and reached for Davey’s hand. Davey smiled and took it, leading him back to his bunk. He was only six and Davey was always happy to indulge the little boys. They all had to grow up so fast that any opportunity for them to act like kids was a gift.

He tucked the threadbare blanket around Maxwell and crouched down next to him. “Just close your eyes and try to sleep.”

“What if I can’t?”

Davey shrugged, trying his best to be simultaneously casual and comforting in the way that Jack was. “Then you can’t. You’ll still get some rest. Your body needs rest to function.”

“Okay,” he replied.

“All right. In the future, don’t open the door. Get one of the older boys or Mr. Kloppmann.”

“Yes.”

He smiled and kissed the boy’s forehead. “Good. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Mr. Jacobs,” he yawned.

“Davey,” he gently corrected for the thousandth time since Race had told the kids to call him Mr. Jacobs. It was a waste of breath, though, because Maxwell was already asleep.

Davey made his way slowly up the steps and through the dormitory. He crept past the bunks and to the back of the room where an old wooden door was. He opened it slowly and smiled at what he saw inside the small, dark room.

He made sure the door was firmly shut and the eye hook was in place. Davey sat on the edge of the bunk and reached down to run his fingers through Jack’s disheveled mop of hair. Jack groaned quietly and pressed his head up into Davey’s palm. Davey leaned down and kissed him softly.

“Good morning.”

“Mm. Yeah.”

Davey giggled embarrassingly.

“What’re you doing here?” Jack cracked open his eyes and met Davey’s. “Morning bell ain’t even rung yet. You should be sleeping in.”

“We have plans, remember? Should I not have come?” He tried not to let his voice or face betray how stupid he felt and how mortified he would be if that was the case.

Jack shook his head. “No.” He placed his hand on the back of Davey’s neck and pulled him into another kiss. It was just as lazy and sweet but with an undercurrent of reassurance and heat. “It’s the perfect way to wake up.”

Davey breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I’m glad.”

“You’re always welcome here, doll. I was just surprised, is all.”

“Oh.”

“Why don’t you lie down with me for a few minutes? We got time, don’t we?”

“We do,” he conceded, “but—” he sat up and Jack groaned “—I’ll get my suit wrinkled.”

Jack scoffed. “These guys ain’t gonna care.”

“I care.”

“More than you care about me?”

“Jack.”

“Fine.” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “But you—” he emphasized it by kissing the side Davey’s head “—owe me time with you.”

“You can have all the time with me you want if today goes well. Get up.”

“I am up!”

“You’re thinking about going back to sleep. I see it in your eyes.”

“See? That’s just ’cause you know me so well.”

Davey rolled his eyes and told Jack to shut up. Jack took several pauses in buttoning his shirt to give Davey sweet kisses both on the lips and on his neck. By the time they actually got outside, Davey was blushing like mad. He glared at Jack’s cocky grin.

“You sure Joe’s okay with this?” Jack asked as Davey led him to the basement of the World building.

“Uh…kinda?” he replied sheepishly. “He gave me a masterkey so I could get where I needed without asking him and…I need to get here?”

Jack laughed. “You’re sneaky, Jacobs. And with your boss?”

“Hey, he’s your boss now, too.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Davey flicked the heavy switch and the lights slowly clicked on.

Jack whistled. “I forgot how big this place is. And it’s a lot cleaner than last time.”

“I cleaned it.”

“What? Why?”

“I was asked to do something professionally and it isn’t professional to have an unclean meeting space, even if it is a basement.”

“Professional? You getting paid?” he teased. 

“No, but still.”

He rolled his eyes and brought one of Davey’s hands to his lips. “You’re a good guy. The best.”

Davey smiled. Jack was constantly complimenting him. At first, they’d been hard to take. He was always bad at that. Anytime anybody had said anything nice about him, he’d wanted to curl up in a ball and die. That was still true, to a certain extent. Jack, however, had forced him to get used to hearing those nice things and not a day went by where Davey didn’t hear about how much Jack loved him. The same was true in reverse.

“You too, Jacky.” He let himself be pulled in for a chaste kiss. “Come on,” he said, “help me set up chairs.”

Walter was the first to arrive. He beamed when his eyes met David’s and took off his hat. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this, David,” he said.

“I’m honored you asked. You know Jack.”

They shook hands and Jack donned his patented Kelly smile. “Nice to see ya.”

“You too. I have to say, I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Oh? Dave, I thought you said they asked us to come.”

David blushed at the nickname.

“No, sir,” Walter said cheerfully, “but we’re more than happy you’re here. Thank you for helping us. We could use all the advice we could get.”

“I’m confused,” David admitted reluctantly. “You wanted just me to help out?”

“Like I said, we’re happy to have you, Jack,” Walter emphasized.

“But me? Jack was the strike leader.”

Jack flicked the side of his head.

“Ow!”

“We both were, genius.” The unsaid “and Katherine” was left hanging in the air.

“I told you months ago, David. You obviously got a knack for this and we want you to help us out, if you’re able.”

David smiled awkwardly. “I’ll do what I can.”

More and more men came filing in and Walter was speaking with someone else.

“Relax,” Jack whispered. He leaned casually against the table behind them. “You’ve done this before.”

“It was spur of the moment last time. I don’t know what to do when it’s like this. Besides, I had a lot more help.”

“I’ll always be by your side, Davey,” he promised, “but you gotta know by now that you’re great at inspiring folk.”

Before he could respond, Walter hushed people and started speaking. “If you’re here, you’re here about unionizing. I’m not one for fancy speeches so I’m just gonna say this here is David Jacobs and Jack Kelly. Most of you know David ’cause he’s Mr. Pulitzer’s assistant. These boys striked against him less than a year ago with an army of children.” People chuckled. “They’re here to give us some advice. David?”

David nodded and cleared his throat. “Uh, right. Thank you, Walter. Jack’s the president of the Newsies Union, so I’ll let him explain how we got started,” he said. It was the verbal equivalent of elbowing him in the ribs.

“Sure. Who here knows what a statement of purpose is?”

The meeting went well. The men seemed cautiously optimistic and that was the best David could ask for. He was going to continue to work with them. Their faith in him made David feel some sort of way that he couldn’t describe. He noticed Jack smiling at him the whole time David was speaking. It made him feel that way some more.

Esther met the boys outside the tenement building. Even though he’d been around both his mother and Jack at once about a hundred times before, David felt oddly nervous. Jack must have noticed because before she noticed them, he squeezed his hand in a silent show of support.

David felt caught in between two worlds when he was with his parents and Jack. He reverted to his relatively quiet, reserved self around his parents and he knew it was unfamiliar and disconcerting to Jack.

The landlord met them outside and gave them the key. He said to bring it back downstairs when they were done. David offered his mother his arm and escorted her up the stairs. The stairs were narrow and the floorboards on them creaky. David’s immediate thought was that his father would never be able to get up them. Esther gasped as her skirt caught on a nail and chuckled when they realized what had happened.

The key wasn’t cooperating with David, so he jammed into the lock. It took several aggressive twists to open.

When it finally did creak open, dust floating in beams of sunlight made his eyes water. His mother coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. David reached into his pocket.

“Here, Ima.” He folded the handkerchief into her hand and she covered her mouth and nose. David moved a stray lock of hair out of her face and behind her ear. “Are you all right?”

She gave him a watery smile. “I’m all right.”

Jack had his hands in his pockets and his brow was furrowed. David followed his eyeline to the stove. Jack slowly approached and touched the edge of it almost reverently.

“Jack?” he questioned.

“Hmm?” Jack didn’t look away from the stove.

“Is there something wrong with the stove?”

“Nope.”

David decided not to press.

The room was small. Smaller than either of the rooms at home. It held little but the stove and the window, but it was still crowded with the three of them in it. There was a space that was probably meant to have a table.

The doorway had a few nails poking out, which David could fix once they moved in. He made sure to point them out before his mother stepped through. The second room was smaller than the first. It was entirely empty.

David imagined what it would look like when the bed he and Jack would be sharing was in it. A floorboard creaked under his foot and he thought of coming home late and tiptoeing so he didn’t wake Jack. He thought of him waking up anyway and giving David a lazy, half-asleep kiss before he pulled David in next to him and drifted back off.

“What are you smiling at, boychik?”

His mother startled him out of his reverie. “Hmm? Nothing, Ima. I just like it a lot.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “Seems functional.”


	5. Chapter Five

Jack was draped across Davey. Normally, Davey wouldn’t mind — he would love it, in fact — but they both knew how frustrating it was for Davey when Jack did it in public. All of their friends were around, but all he wanted to do was kiss Jack or, at the very least, have Jack’s head on his shoulder.

This was Jack’s way of mocking him. “I can’t use fancy language or nothing,” he had once told Davey. “I get back at you when you can’t kiss me instead. And, Dave? It’s real cute that that’s what pisses you off.” His grin had been painfully obnoxious and it had led to Davey denying him kisses for almost two hours.

Crutchie was looking at him knowingly, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He whispered something to Race that made him laugh.

“How you doing, doll?” Jack whispered in his ear.

Davey didn’t justify the question with an answer.

“Ah, don't be like that,” he teased.

He shivered and pushed Jack away. Jack laughed, much to his chagrin. When he stood up, leaving his partner devoid of warmth, Davey glared at him and watched him laugh again.

Because he was undoubtedly one of the greatest people to ever walk the earth, in Davey’s opinion, Crutchie faked an epic yawn. Slowly, everybody said their good nights. When it was obvious that Crutchie was tired, all the newsies would say they were going to bed so as not to make him feel guilty. He knew this and had, in fact, been the person who informed Davey of this little phenomenon. He milked it for all it was worth.

Finally, the boys scattered to their beds and Crutchie winked as he walked by, a quiet “You’re welcome” on his lips.

Jack offered Davey a hand up. He stood and immediately missed the feeling of Jack’s fingers tangled with his when they were forced to let go.

Instead, he settled for waiting until they were in Jack’s tiny room in the corner — perk of being the leader — and the door was firmly latched. There was no lock on, but none of the boys would dare barge in. As much as they crowded Jack and caused him grief throughout the day, they respected that he needed some privacy once in a while. Nobody ever asked why Davey stayed with him some nights.

“You’re a tease and I hate you,” Davey said when Jack pushed him gently onto the bed.

He laughed. “You love me.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Yeah, I do.” Davey knew his smile was goofy and lovesick but couldn’t summon the ability to care.

Jack sat down next to him and took his hand, gazing down towards them. Using his free hand, Jack ran his fingers over their intertwined ones, stopping to caress the dorsal side of Davey’s hand. Davey sat silently and waited for him to speak.

“I love you too,” he finally whispered. The unevenness and hesitance in his voice was obvious.

“Hey.” Davey cupped his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Jack grinned. “I love it when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Touch me without waiting for me to touch you first. I like you being confident.”

Davey was sure his cheeks were red. “What do you mean?”

Jack shrugged. “You just…not that you don’t stand up for what you believe in or talk good or nothing, ’cause you do, but not when you don’t need to, you know?”

Davey wasn’t sure he did.

“Like, you’re the walking mouth around me and the boys, but that’s only once someone gets you going. You wait for one of us to start talking. Why?”

Now Davey shrugged. He knew he could tell Jack absolutely anything, but he was still embarrassed sometimes. For the most part, he knew how to articulate his feelings, but he was nervous he would mess something up. Sarah said it was stage fright minus the stage. “You know your lines, you just don’t want to say them,” she had once told him. He thought it was a pretty accurate assessment.

“Dave,” Jack prompted.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to bother anyone or weasel my way into a discussion that I’m not a part of.”

“Does it bother you when one of us starts talking to you?” Jack asked.

“Of course not.”

“Then why would it bother us when you do?”

He rolled his eyes and leaned into him. Davey was a few inches taller and so it was a little awkward to rest his head on Jack’s shoulder, yet always completely worth it.

“Anyway, you seem comfortable around me, is all.”

“Mm.” Davey nuzzled into his neck. “I am. Of course I am.”

“Of course?” Jack echoed.

He sat up and stared. “Jack, do you think I’d be moving in with you if I wasn’t?”

Jack shrugged. “Guess not.”

“Aren’t you comfortable around me too?”

“Yes!” he rushed to answer. “Yeah, Dave, for sure.”

“Good.”

Davey knew Jack could be insecure sometimes, but usually not about their relationship; at least, not anymore. The weeks following their separation and subsequent reunion earlier that year had been fraught with anxiety on Jack’s part, he knew.

He squeezed his hand in an attempt to provide some form of comfort or reassurance. “Do you want to go to bed?”

Jack shook his head. “No. Well, I always want to go to bed,” he joked, “but I’d rather do this.”

Davey was sure there was nothing in the universe better than kissing Jack. He thought of a letter he had once read in school written from Benjamin Franklin to some French economist. He was talking about wine and said it was “A constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.” Cheesy though it may have been, he was pretty sure that wine could be substituted for Jack’s kisses. In a drunken haze a few months earlier, he had mentioned this to Sarah and Katherine and had yet to hear the end of it.

Jack’s lips were chapped and he needed to shave, but it was wonderful nonetheless. Davey failed to hold back a whine when Jack pulled away and was laughed at.

“That good, huh?” Jack teased and waggled his eyebrows.

“You know it was, so be quiet and kiss me again.”

“See? That’s what I mean, Dave.” A short kiss. “You’re a lot more confident than you were when we met.”

“You weren’t kissing me when we met,” Davey pointed out. 

“True.”

They lay down only a few minutes later.

“Ugh,” Jack groaned, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” he asked.

“That I can’t stay up longer. Wish I could, but I’m wiped.”

Davey kissed his cheek and whispered, “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“Yeah, but you stay over and then I end up falling asleep twenty minutes after the boys leave us alone,” he mumbled, eyes drifting shut.

Davey chuckled fondly. “I’m not surprised. You work all day, Jacky. Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to ourselves soon.” Davey didn’t fail to notice the small smile that crept its way onto Jack’s face. “Besides, I’m tired too.” He rested his head on Jack’s chest and breathed in the familiar scent of his paint-stained undershirt.

“Long day?” Jack asked.

“Mm,” he confirmed. “Mr. Pulitzer had me running all over town.”

“Don’t he do that every day?”

“More so than usual today.”

“Shoulda told me,” Jack mumbled. “Coulda given you a foot rub or something.”

David laughed. “Like you’re not on your feet all day every day. I appreciate it, but I’m not sure you could have kept your eyes open long enough.”

Jack grunted and Davey sat up and pressed one final kiss to his lips.

“Night, Dave. Love you.”

“Good night, Jacky. I love you too,” he echoed.

By the time he was done with his evening prayers, Jack was already asleep. Davey stared at his scrunched up forehead and then gently stroked it until Jack relaxed. Even in his sleep, the boy he loved was stressed. Davey drifted off thinking about what it would be like when Jack started his new job and could sleep regular hours. He wondered if it would make him calmer and more relaxed, but doubted it would. Jack carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“What’s this?”

Katherine had strode into her father’s outer office and, without a word, placed an envelope with neat, prim cursive on David’s desk.

“What does it look like?”

“‘Mr. David A. Jacobs,’” he read, “floor nineteen, The World Building, ninety-nine Park Row, New York, New York.’ It looks like a letter addressed to me for no reason since you hand-delivered it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for wanting to be proper and professional.”

“Katherine, the return address is ‘Go Fuck Yourself Street.’”

“Yes.” 

David sighed. “Should I read it now?”

“Do what you want. I’m going to work.” With that, she left.

Hannah, who had been there to witness the whole thing came and snatched the letter from him.

“Hey!”

“I want to know what it says and you weren’t going to open it.”

“I was, but not until lunch. I have work to do.”

Hannah took the letter opener off his desk and opened the envelope. Perching herself on the edge of his desk, she read aloud.

“Dear Mr. Jacobs,” she began. “I’m writing in regards to our previous discussion pertaining to—” She handed it to him. “Nope, too boring.”

David sighed and thought of all the work he had to do before he could go home that evening. Instead of doing any of it, he was stuck reading this ridiculous letter.

_ Dear Mr. Jacobs, _

_ I’m writing in regards to our previous discussion pertaining to one of the many problems plaguing our society at the present moment. After much thought, I am willing to concede that it is unlikely that any form of true progress will be made at this time. Having said that, the odds have never stopped us before. I would hope you would be willing to join in my efforts to affect change for our people, but am more than capable of moving forward without your assistance. If you are on board, I would like to speak with some of the people in your community to get some firsthand accounts of the prejudice they suffer. Please let me know if… _

David stopped reading and put his head on the desk. He loved Katherine, he really did, and he wanted to help her because he wanted the same things she did, but it was simply unrealistic. She might tell him he was pessimistic and uncaring, but he wasn’t. He was keeping his head down, just as he was supposed to do. That’s how one survived in society, though Katherine clearly had no frame of reference for that. He almost envied her.

He envied a lot of parts of her life, truth be told. He envied that she never had to worry about food on the table or saving for warm clothing. David had always been aware of that, especially on days like that one when he was walking around with one toe sticking out of his sock because he only had two pairs and not enough time to darn them.

It was easy to forget, however, that though Katherine had never experienced what he had, she had certainly dealt with things he never did. David never had to worry about creepy men or being told to sit down and shut up because of his gender. For the rest of the day, he tried to think about that whenever he got angry. When he felt insulted, he thought of the first time they had met and he’d implied that she wasn’t a real reporter.

So yes, maybe her plan was ridiculous and dangerous, but it came from a good place, and he loved her for it.

That night, he stayed late and wrote a reply.

_ Katherine, _

_ You win. When do we start? _

He tried not to feel too guilty about lying.


	6. Interlude

When they were six, Sarah had started talking about Mosche Baczewski. She would spend hours telling David about how sweet and handsome he was. David would just smile and hold his sister’s hand while she talked. He made no mention of the fact that he felt the same way; he was smart enough to know not to.

When they were seven, the Baczewskis went to America and that was that.

When they were ten, their English still broken after less than six months in New York, John Hooper told Sarah she was pretty. While their parents dealt with the baby fussing late at night, she would whisper to David about what John had said in class that day or the smile he gave her on the playground.

When they were eleven, John and his friends threw David into the mud on a rainy day and that was that.

When they were twelve, Henry Peterson kissed Sarah on the cheek.

The next day, David got a split lip when Henry tripped him and that was that.

When they were fourteen, David realized he had no idea who Sarah was interested in anymore. Neither, it seemed, did Sarah.

When they were fifteen, David spent the late hours of Purim on the roof, telling Sarah about the boy from shul that made his stomach flip and his heart speed up. She brought him water the next morning and laid a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Do you still love me?” David whispered.

Sarah stroked a stray hair out of his face and replied, “Only with all my heart.”

“Is there something wrong with me?” he asked.

“The only thing that’s wrong with you is that you thought I could ever stop loving you.”

When they were seventeen, David met Jack.

When they were eighteen, David realized just how oblivious he had been.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am so excited to be writing the second long installment of this series. I’ve been writing it since I finished the last one and I can’t wait to see what all of you think. Thank you for reading!


End file.
